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27

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23

45

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< Theme:

Afghanistan:Picking upthe Pieces

uch has changed since then. Empires have crashed to

the ground. The horror and upheaval of world wars -

two very hot and one ice-cold - have come and gone. With the

recent criminal acts in America we have, in a nightmarish

way, come full circle: The Ballad of East and West is set in the

vicious and war-torn Afghanistan of 1892.

But the biggest change of all, the change that has and is

touching more lives than even the world wars did, is the phe-

nomenon known as globalization.

Of course, there is nothing new about globalization. What

is new about this `second wave’ of globalization is not the

ideas which underpin it - belief in free trade, open markets,

private ownership, property rights, and capitalism - but its

scope, driven in large part by the technological progress that

has been made in the intervening 100 years. Not only is glob-

alization now reaching into a vastly greater number of coun-

tries, it is also reaching into vastly greater areas of our lives.

Increase in trade, coupled with the revolution that has

taken place in transport, means the peoples of the world are

coming into greater contact with each other than ever before.

In many cases (although sadly not all) this greater expo-

sure to each other’s cultures and societies has led to greater

dialogue and understanding. It has even brought some sem-

blance of stability and prosperity to areas where there was

none before.

However, it would be naïve to say that globalization has

been an unalloyed blessing. I am referring not just to the fact

important though it is - that the globalization that has trans-

formed the lives of many, has still left too many marooned

in poverty. I am also noting the way that many of the prob-

lems governments now face have also globalized, in the sense

that they do not respect national frontiers: international drugs

trade, environmental degradation, global epidemics, cyber

More than 100 years ago, in The Ballad of East and West, the British poet Kipling wrote a line of verse whichwould subsequently enter the English language almost as a cliché: “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and neverthe twain shall meet.”

Never the Twain Shall Meet?

Commissioner Chris

Patten delivering the

IIAS Annual Lecture in

the Academy Building

of Leiden University,

15 October 2001.

15 October 2001Leiden, The Netherlands

Forum >

c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 3 >

M

page 8-16

Eight researchers assess what’s lost,

recovered, and revived of Afghanistan’s

cultural inheritance.

Enhancing EU’s Partnerships with Asia:

Adapting Kipling to a Globalized World

Wim

Vre

ebu

rg

7

I I A S N e w s l e t t e r | # 2 7 | M a r c h 2 0 0 2 3

> General newsrelapse, set back within a period of only

four years; they have to straighten out

their domestic problems, and ASEAN

should, of course, reconsider its

“ASEAN way of concensus politics”. I

must admit, after the first crisis, the

economic and political weight shifted

to Northeast Asia: Japan and China are

the key players. It would be most unfor-

tunate for that matter to downgrade the

relation of the Union with the individ-

ual Southeast Asian countries of

ASEAN. The Commission could con-

sider special programmes for assisting

its Southeast Asian counterparts, with

whom it has had a constant relationship

since the 1970s.

The second of my observations con-

cerns ASEM. The Asia-Europe Meeting

has been designed as an informal

process of dialogue and cooperation

between the EU member-states, the EC,

and ten Asian countries. ASEM’s activ-

ities support the three main “pillars” of

its approach, namely, (1.) economic

cooperation, (2.) political dialogue and

(3.) the rest, i.e. cultural and intellectu-

al cooperation. It will not surprise you

to hear that most progress is made in the

first “pillar”. As for the political dia-

logue, it is a slow and sensitive process;

but the third pillar, cooperation in social,

cultural and civil domains, is the most

underdeveloped of the ASEM process.

In fact, few European countries show

real interest in ASEM. Even after Sep-

tember 11, this has not really changed.

However, as I see it, ASEM is a unique

vehicle for rapprochement between

Europe and Asia. It allows for a wide

range of initiatives – also in the cultur-

al, intellectual and civil domains. ASEM

should now, more than ever, become an

instrument for better mutual under-

standing. Fortunately, the Commission

is the motor behind the European side

of ASEM and it should be praised for

its endeavours; however, the Union

should do more with regard to the third

“pillar.” It should not underestimate the

importance of cooperation in the cul-

tural and civil domains and especially

the long-term impact of joint interre-

gional research on topics of common

interest such as environmental degra-

dation, global epidemics, terrorism,

migration, social welfare, poverty

reduction, etc. The sixth framework

programme could, for instance, sup-

port and embrace joint Asia-Europe

research initiatives for the benefit of all

aspects of a sustainable Asia-Europe

partnership. <

Professor Wim Stokhof is Director of the

International Institute for Asian Studies,

Leiden/ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

E-mail: iias@let.leidenuniv.nl

crime and, of course, terrorism. The shocking events in New

York, which led to the deaths of thousands of people from

more than sixty countries, from Australia to Yemen, are per-

haps the ultimate, grim expression of what I have previous-

ly called the dark side of globalization.

In this context, is it really credible to claim we are forever

condemned to glower at each other from the turrets of our

inviolate cultural fortresses? To continue insisting that East

and West shall never meet? That they will remain totally alien

to each other, separated by a gulf of misunderstanding, des-

tined for some sort of clash of civilizations?

Some seem to think so. This time last year, Professor Deep-

ak Lal stood before this very institute and offered an aston-

ishing worldview which airily dismissed liberty as a Western

value, rejected the argument that ideas like democracy,

human rights and environmental standards are universal,

and warned that if the West tied what he called its ‘moral cru-

sade’ too closely to the processes of globalization, there could

be a backlash. I reject this attitude firmly, and not just because

of my well-known views on the universality of principles like

democracy. In light of the terrible events in America, the time

has come to dispense with the emollient words which one

would normally use to relativize and excuse such nonsense.

I will be blunt about this: those who espouse the idea that civ-

ilizations should never mix, that concepts like human rights,

democracy and environmental protection are alien tools of

Western neo-imperialism are not only wrong, but danger-

ous. They play into the hands of demagogues who would like

nothing better than to see waves of violence and destruction

engulf all those countries, East and West, which hold such

values dear, since they stand as constant reminders of the

falseness and aridity of their own miserable worldview. Those

who doubt that this is the true intention of such demagogues

need only look at the video recording released by Osama bin

Laden last week (7-8/10), where he makes it clear he is try-

ing to provoke a clash of civilizations - or, as Professor Lal

breathlessly described it in his lecture, an ‘emerging con-

frontation between Asia and the West’.

But let us set aside for a moment the events of the last

month, and imagine I am addressing these thoughts to you

in the balmier and more innocent days of August. Would Pro-

fessor Lal’s comments be any more acceptable?

More than once during my days in Hong Kong I had to lis-

ten to some distinguished person or another holding forth

on the uniqueness of Asian values. For such speakers, Asian

values almost invariably seemed to exclude democracy,

human rights, civil liberties and other such noxious ideas

identified with the degenerate West. What sustained this non-

sense was not a new historical, cultural or sociological analy-

sis, but the ringing tills of the Asian boom, the so-called mir-

acle, which was soon to come crashing down on their heads.

Had these speakers never heard of Aung San Suu Kyi in

Burma, I wondered, a very Asian inspiration to freedom

lovers across the whole world? Had they forgotten the words

of Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, who -

and maybe there is an example of what some leaders regard

as ‘Asian values’? - is now languishing in a prison cell? In

1994 he said: ‘to say that freedom is Western or un-Asian is tooffend our own traditions as well as our forefathers who gave theirlives in the struggle against tyrannies and injustices.’

And what about the meeting of more than one hundred

Asian non-governmental organizations in Bangkok the year

before, which concluded that: ‘universal human rights stan-dards are rooted in many cultures’, which hammered the point

home by adding: ‘While advocating cultural pluralism, those

cultural practices which derogate from universally acceptedhuman rights... must not be tolerated’?

Europe, which has a relatively better record in recent years

in the field of human rights compared to some Asian coun-

tries, has no right to feel smug or morally superior about this.

Not very long ago at all, democracy, civil liberties and human

rights were a rare commodity here too. But that is the whole

point. Until recently, so-called ‘Western values’ were almost

unheard of across whole swathes of Europe, from Portugal

to Poland, and from Estonia to Macedonia. So just how ‘West-

ern’ can they be? As the great Indian economist and Nobel

Prize winner Amartya Sen has pointed out, when European

nations still believed in the divine right of kings, Indian

emperors such as the Moghul Emperor, Akbar, were already

practising tolerance and defending diversity in India.

Of course, Kipling himself was a talented writer with a

more subtle and complex view of the world and humanity

than he is often given credit for. I am sure if he were here

with us today he would also reject the notion of East and West

as impermeable cultural blocs. After all, his ballad depicts

the differences between East and West simply in order to

emphasize later the universality of human values. The lines

I quoted to you at the start of this lecture are well known. But

how many know the lines which follow?:

“But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, norBirth, When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they comefrom the ends of the earth!”

Unfortunately, the two strong men in question, the

Colonel’s son and Kamal, were forced to commit daring acts

of almost suicidal bravery before they were able to overcome

their cultural differences and respect each other, and I admit

that this is not an altogether practical proposition in the mod-

ern world. If it were, I would not be quite so keen to attend

summits and meetings of international organizations.

In a globalized world, we simply must accept that equal

and closer partnerships are the best, perhaps the only, way

to ensure wealth, health, security, and better mutual under-

standing for all our peoples. We need to work together to tack-

le the new types of problem that the dark side of globaliza-

tion throws up.

That is why, in 1994, the Commission published a sub-

stantial policy document on EU-Asia relations, Towards a NewAsia Strategy, which underlined Asia’s importance for Europe

and called for a more balanced and comprehensive approach

to the whole region. There is no doubt that the 1994 Asia

Strategy served us well. Since that date, our political dialogue

with the region has expanded enormously, with new Sum-

mit dialogues with Asian partners in the Asia-Europe Meet-

ing (ASEM), and with China, India, Japan, and (soon) Korea.

There is also our Ministerial dialogue with ASEAN, which

now includes EU participation in the ASEAN Regional

Forum. In addition, the EU has continued to make an active

contribution to peace and security in the region, for example

in our efforts to help establish democratic government in

Cambodia and East Timor and our contribution to KEDO.

We have also given considerable support for refugees in and

from Afghanistan - a topic I wish to return to later.

Trade with Asia has also expanded substantially in recent

years, despite the major impact of the Asian financial crisis.

In 2000, Asia accounted for 21.2 per cent of EU exports, mak-

ing the region our third largest regional trading partner -

ahead of the Mediterranean, South and Central American,

the Gulf, and ACP countries combined (17.1 per cent).

Even more remarkable is the increase in importance of

Europe’s market for Asia. After the financial crisis of 1997,

we promised we would keep our markets open to Asian

c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 >

1 Further strengthen our mutual trade and investment flows with the region;

Action Points:• Work to strengthen our bilateral economic relations, reducing non-tariff barriers to

trade and facilitating investment, and helping build a pro-development policy cli-

mate;

• support cooperation between economic operators in our two regions;

• strengthen our policy dialogue on economic and financial issues, and promote the

use of the Euro internationally;

• continue to ensure favourable market access for the poorest developing countries;

• recognize the role of transport and energy in our trade relations as well as the impact

of both sectors on the environment.

2 Strengthen our engagement with Asia in the political and security fields;

Action Points:• strengthen our engagement on regional and global security issues;

• strengthen our dialogue and cooperation on conflict prevention issues;

• and enhance our cooperation on justice and home affairs issues.

3 Demonstrate our effectiveness as a partner in reducing poverty in Asia;

Action Points:• strengthen our dialogue on social policy issues;

• while completing the reform of our own aid management.

4 Contribute to the protection of human rights and to the spreading of democracy,

good governance, and the rule of law throughout the region;In contributing to

democratization, good governance and the rule of law, and respect for human

rights we should strengthen our bilateral and multilateral dialogue with our Asian

partners, encourage civil society dialogue, and ensure that human rights and gov-

ernance issues are mainstreamed in our cooperation activities.

5 Build global partnerships with key Asian partners, working together to address

the global opportunities and challenges which face us all and to strengthen our

joint efforts on global environment and security issues;

Action Points:• Strengthen the work of the United Nations and its different agencies;

• strengthen the open international trading system embodied in the WTO;

• safeguard the global environment.

6 Strengthen further the mutual awareness between our two regions.

Action Points:• Strengthen and expand the network of EC Delegations across the region;

• work to strengthen educational and cultural exchanges between our two regions,

and to promote enhanced civil society contacts and intellectual exchanges. <

The Six General Objectives and Priorities

Chris Patten with

Professor Rikki Ker-

sten(l) and Dr Paul

Lim (m). On the left

in the background:

Professor Joris

Voorhoeve, President

of the Netherlands

Association for Inter-

national Affairs

(NGIZ). Wim

Vre

ebu

rg

c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 4 >

Have you checked your ABIA today?

www.abia.net(also see p. 51 in this issue – “A Giant’s Step to Sri Lanka”)

I I A S N e w s l e t t e r | # 2 7 | M a r c h 2 0 0 24

> General news

exports and resist domestic calls for protectionism. We kept

our word, and one result has been a ballooning of the EU’s

trade deficit with Asia from A 13.3 billion in 1996 to more

than A 121 billion in 2000.

Finally EC cooperation programmes with the developing

countries of Asia have also grown moderately in recent years,

averaging some A 410 million per year in the period 1996-

2000. Overall, the EU and its Member States account for

some 30 per cent of global overseas development aid going

to Asia - after Japan (50 per cent) but well ahead of the USA

(9 per cent).

But if a week is a long time in politics, as British Prime

Minister Harold Wilson famously said, seven years is an eter-

nity. Against this background of ever increasing political and

economic bonds between our two regions, the world stage

on which these developments have played themselves out

has also changed enormously. In Europe, preparations for

the single currency, enlargement and the development of the

Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Rapid Reac-

tion Force have all increased the EU’s importance as a glob-

al actor. In Asia, the financial crisis in 1997 has had a major

economic, social and even political impact. Our growing

interdependence itself calls for stronger partnerships to

address both the challenges and opportunities that we both

face.

That is why last month (September 2001), seven years after

the original Asia Strategy document, the Commission adopt-

ed a Communication setting out a new strategic framework

for EU relations with Asia during the coming decade.

The Communication sets out six overarching objectives

which give overall EU-Asia relations a more coherent frame-

work. It then provides specific action points to focus EU ini-

tiatives in Asia’s sub-regions and regional fora. These action

points also aim at improving relations with individual coun-

tries in each region by addressing bilateral issues. I am con-

fident that this will allow the EU to develop a forward-look-

ing agenda which will strengthen and raise its profile across

Asia to a level commensurate with the growing global weight

of an enlarged Union.

So what are these six key objectives? First, we have to devel-

op our trade and investment relationship, not least by get-

ting Asian countries to agree on the need for another multi-

lateral trade round.

The second objective is to promote the development of less

prosperous countries in the region. The EU can be proud of

its record here, with the bold trade initiatives and 30 per cent

share of all foreign development assistance in Asia already

mentioned. But more could be done to address the root caus-

es of poverty. For example, at the EU-India Summit in Delhi

next month (Nov), we will be signing an agreement to con-

tribute A 200 million to Indian efforts to make elementary

education available for every Indian child by the end of the

decade. This raises to more than A 0.5 billion the sums com-

mitted by the EU to the social sector generally in India since

1995.

A third objective is for the EU to contribute more to peace

and security in Asia by broadening our engagement with the

area. More could be done to support conflict prevention

efforts, strengthen our cooperation in the field of justice and

home affairs, and play a more proactive role in regional coop-

eration fora such as the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Peace and security are more likely to flourish in regions

where free and fair elections are the norm, where adminis-

trations are not blighted by corruption and where laws are

not subordinated to the day-to-day whims of those in power.

So spreading democracy, good governance, and the rule of

law is our fourth objective. Yes, this includes upholding the

universality and indivisibility of human rights. It also

includes encouraging the development of civil society and

promoting a broader civil society dialogue between our two

regions.

All this can only make our societies stronger, providing a

firmer base for our fifth objective, which is to build global

partnerships and alliances with Asian countries so we can

shape global agendas and better tackle the new types of prob-

lems which beset us all. This should include improving our

cooperation in the United Nations and the World Trade

Organisation, but also working together to tackle environ-

mental and health challenges, and to fight international crime

and terrorism. We should also exploit the opportunities

offered by new technologies, help to diminish the digital

divide, and reinforce scientific and technological cooperation.

Finally, and this has taken on a sudden, grave importance

in an atmosphere where madmen are straining to provoke

some apocalyptic clash of civilizations, we should strength-

en awareness of Europe in Asia, and vice versa. This is not

an optional extra. This is about promoting genuine educa-

tional, scientific, cultural - and yes, political - exchanges at all

levels. Of course, the EU cannot force Asia to promote itself

here, but we have taken the lead by, for example, launching

a scholarship scheme in China, funding cultural pro-

grammes across Asia, and extending the network of Euro-

pean Commission delegation offices in the region to

Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, and Nepal. It is my

sincere hope that the nations of Asia will reciprocate these

efforts - they have much to share.

And what about those more specific action points adapted

to the different regions of Asia? These reflect the underlying

diversity of that massive continent, and will no doubt change

and be adapted as things evolve. But it is possible to discern

key issues today, to which emphasis must be given. China,

more than any other country, has been subject to a maelstrom

of change in recent years, which has led to the development

of new areas of shared concern with, for example, illegal

immigration, food hygiene, and genetically modified organ-

isms all rising up the agenda. Combined with the fact that

China is the world’s second biggest consumer of energy and

the third largest producer, and that the EU is now the largest

foreign direct investor there, it is evident we have moved far

beyond the trade and development themes which have tra-

ditionally formed the basis of EU-China relations since their

establishment in 1975.

It is important to capitalize on this. Our political dialogue

with China is constantly increasing, and could go further

still. We should work together with other international part-

ners to encourage a rapprochement between the two Kore-

as. Burma, as a major drug producer and potential source of

instability, should concern us both. The maturing of our rela-

tionship also allows franker discussions of our differences.

This is the basis for the human rights dialogue we have pur-

sued since 1996.

Of course, 11 September changed everything. If we were

drafting the new Communication today, we would say rather

more than we have about Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the

problems faced by the central Asian region.

I was in Islamabad the other day, and the EU is obviously

pleased that the Pakistani government, faced with a choice

between siding with the modern, pluralist world or with the

enemies of decency and international cooperation, unhesi-

tatingly chose the former. We are also pleased that in August,

President Musharraf set out in such detail his plans for a

return to democracy next year. We have in the lock a cooper-

ative agreement with Pakistan. There has been no progress

on it for two years. We are now prepared to sign that agree-

ment, although obviously the process of ratification would

be affected were Pakistan to abandon the path to democracy

(which I hope will not happen). The agreement also includes

the usual suspension and human rights clauses which indi-

cate the priority we attach, in any relationship, to pluralist

values.

We have also been considering how we can help Pakistan

to deal with the impact of refugees on its society - a burden

it has been carrying, largely unnoticed, for almost two

decades - and how we can restore effective, long-term, devel-

opment cooperation.

Clearly, the return of democracy in Pakistan also presents

a challenge to President Musharraf, not least because the

sorts of democracy frequently practised in the past in Pak-

istan were not always characterized by transparency, effi-

ciency and a determination to meet the needs of the whole

community.

But the future of Pakistan is only one of the issues that we

will need to address more energetically in the wake of what

we are all committed to making a successful operation to

uproot terrorism. We will also need to facilitate the estab-

lishment of a broad-based government in Afghanistan and

then to give it the sort of long-term development assistance

which will enable it to survive. The EU has already provided

more than A 450 million in humanitarian assistance to

Afghanistan since 1991, making us the second biggest donor

in the world to this battered country. But more must be done,

by ourselves and the international community, if the people

of Afghanistan are to have any chance of recovering from the

barren rubble to which their beautiful country has been

reduced, thanks to a ferocious medieval tyranny and long

years of conflict.

However, encouraging a political settlement in

Afghanistan should not mean imposing a government.

Nor should it mean meeting all the demands of neigh-

bouring countries which have often used Afghanistan to

fight their proxy wars. If that happens, then the cycle of

violence will only continue.

Beyond Afghanistan, we will need to look at developing a

more coherent and sensible regional approach in the Cen-

tral Asian Republics, focusing in particular on helping them

in the campaign against drugs and assisting them in the

development of adequate border controls.

Of course, one country in the region provides a beacon of

optimism. It is the largest democracy in the world, and it has

been leading the way in the fight against terrorism by spon-

soring an anti-terrorism resolution at the United Nations.

India, like China, will always be central to EU relations with

Asia. As a major trading partner and an important regional

and global player and a country that shares many of our val-

ues, it would be utterly crazy to ignore her. Building on this

relationship will pay dividends for both sides. That is why the

Communication calls for an enhanced partnership with India

on global issues, alongside strengthened bilateral coopera-

tion in the political, economic, and social spheres.

The growing links which exist between Asia and the West,

links rooted in our shared, common values, make us fit to

face down those who want to destroy those values. The Com-

mission’s Communication on a new strategic framework for

Asia builds on this. The unprecedented international coop-

eration we are seeing today is not only strengthening those

bonds within the international community, but creating new

windows of opportunity as old suspicions and barriers are

cast aside at an astonishing rate.

A strong East and West; borders no longer acting as barri-

ers in a world where distance is decreasing; a partnership of

the decent against those who would bring us low. Was glob-

alization, with all the good and bad it brings with it, neces-

sary to achieve this? Maybe. But Kipling - without airline trav-

el, the Internet and satellite television - would have

understood the challenges we face. And, I think, he would

have approved of the way we are seeking to overcome it. <

This is a shortened version of the Annual Lecture delivered by Chris Patten.

For the full text, please see the IIAS website at:

http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/27/general/patten.html.

Editors’ note >

Chris Patten with

Professor Wim

Stokhof (r).

Wim

Vre

ebu

rg

c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 3 >

IIAS Annual Lecture: Question Round

To read the transcripts of the question round which

followed the IIAS Annual Lecture by Commissioner

Patten, please see the IIAS Website at:

http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/27/general/qround.html

Questions >